COVID-19 case of ventilator-induced lung injury on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: Physicians' clinical struggle and ethical conflict in a novel pandemic

Yoshiko Ishisaka; Nobuyuki Nosaka; Yuka Mishima; Takahiro Masuda; Michio Nagashima; Yosuke Tanaka; Kouhei Yamamoto; Masayuki Yoshida; Hidenobu Shigemitsu

doi:10.1002/ccr3.5223

COVID-19 case of ventilator-induced lung injury on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: Physicians' clinical struggle and ethical conflict in a novel pandemic

Clin Case Rep. 2021 Dec 26;9(12):e05223. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.5223. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Yoshiko Ishisaka¹, Nobuyuki Nosaka¹, Yuka Mishima¹, Takahiro Masuda¹, Michio Nagashima¹, Yosuke Tanaka², Kouhei Yamamoto², Masayuki Yoshida³, Hidenobu Shigemitsu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Intensive Care Medicine Graduate School of Medicine Tokyo Medical and Dental University Tokyo Japan.
² Department of Pathology Tokyo Medical and Dental University Tokyo Japan.
³ Life Sciences and Bioethics Research Center Tokyo Medical and Dental University Tokyo Japan.

Abstract

Resource scarcity was concerned in the initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. To open slots for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), we tried ECMO weaning allowing invasive ventilation in a 66-year-old male with severe COVID-19, backfiring as ventilator-induced lung injury. We will discuss ethical conflict in pandemics in this report.

Keywords: COVID‐19; clinical ethics; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; pandemic; utilitarianism; ventilator‐induced lung injury.

Publication types

Case Reports